Corn or flower tortillas must be heated before eating in order to best draw-out their natural flavors. However, very little exists in the prior art to achieve proper warming of tortillas. One method used by many people is to simply place tortillas quickly over the open flame of a stove, for example. The principal drawback with this method is that the tortilla may be easily burned, and that only a few tortillas may be heated simultaneously. Tortillas tend to lose their heat content relatively quickly, so if a larger number of tortillas are being warmed in this manner, the first tortillas heated are already cold by the time the other tortillas have been heated.
Another method of heating tortillas includes placing tortillas in a frying pan, or the like. However, open frying pans tend to make tortillas too dry since they allow evaporation of the natural moisture in such tortillas during heating. Further, tortillas heated in this manner are flipped over once or twice so that they are evenly cooked by the frying pan. This requires using tongs, a fork, or some other utensil, which is often a cumbersome and time consuming process.
One prior art device, taught in George, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,745 on Nov. 8, 1988, is an appliance specifically made to heat tortillas without resulting in moisture loss, burning, or sogginess resulting from the above and other methods of tortilla warming. Such a device, however, includes a relatively large number of elements. As a result, such a device tends to be expensive, difficult to use, and difficult to clean.
Another prior art device, taught in Terzian U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,593 on Dec. 4, 1979, is a two-part pan device that allows the user to flip an omelet or the like easily. However, such a device is not suited to warming and serving tortillas since tortillas in such a device would not remain flat during flipping over of such a device, resulting in uneven cooking of the tortillas. Further, such a device has an obtrusive handle that requires considerable space on a table, making it cumbersome to use. Still further, such a device is relatively complicated as it requires a separate heating device.
Clearly, then, there is a need for a tortilla warming device that is relatively inexpensive, is easy to clean, and easy to use. Such a needed device would seal-in moisture during heating so that the tortillas do not become dried-out. However, such a needed device would not cause tortillas to become soggy. Such a needed invention would further allow a plurality of tortillas to be heated simultaneously and evenly, and would further keep such tortillas warm for a relatively long time while in the device. Further, such a needed device could be used both to heat and serve the tortillas, eliminating the need for a separate serving dish. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.